“Still playing with Barbie dolls?”
“Eww Barbies are so lame “
“Pink is boring and ‘girly’ “
Barbie dolls and little kids(boys and girls alike) who enjoy playing with Barbies, and watching Barbie movies have faced quite a subsequent amount of disapproval in the last few years. Either boys are gender stereotyped as “being girly” as if being a girl is an insult, or girls become “like the other girls” and are excluded from the oh-I-am-so-cool-cause-I-am-not-like-the-other-girls club. With black becoming the latest trend, pink was looked upon as too immature, childlike, boring, lame, and any other such adjectives you think might deem fit upon a 10-15-year-old.
Gender Dysmorphia and a sudden craze for short hair and tomboy outfits suddenly started discarding femininity as a whole. Where we were trying to break down the norms of Toxic Masculinity, somehow, we subconsciously started discarding Femininity.
“Basically everything that men do in your world, women do in ours.”
Barbie
In a trailer scene of Barbie, Margot Robbie, aka Barbie addresses the world that Barbie Land is, a matriarchial society, filled with a lot of pink!
Table of Contents
The First Barbie Ever
Barbie is an acute representation of the power of Femininity on one’s own self as well as on the boundaries of society as a whole. The first Barbie doll ever was created by Ruth Handler(1916-2002)which soon became an icon for girls all over the world. Barbie takes care of herself, looks good, knows how to look good, owns a car, and is basically a symbol of freedom for women all across the globe!
She is an unmarried powerful woman, driving her life as she takes her seat on the driver’s seat! While now, Barbie dolls and movies, girls, and being girly are most stereotypically addressed to the color pink, you might be surprised to know that the first Barbie doll ever was dressed in a white and black striped dress.
The very same outfit that is recreated by Greta Gerwig in her movie “Barbie” is astonishingly pulled off by the talented actress Margot Robbie. Another stunning move by Greta validated the origin of Barbie dolls.
It is a little-known fact that Barbie dolls saved the economy after sales were dropping in the aftermath of the Second World War. Ruth Handler suggested not manufacturing items of furniture any more and thus co-founded Mattel to only manufacture toys. Whether her idea work? Well, check out the cinema halls where Barbie is playing, you’ll know the answer. In a way, femininity is Rich!
Implementing Body Diversity
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie promotes an immense amount of body diversity. When the first Barbie Doll Ever was made, it received an amount of criticism for promoting a certain amount of body size, shape, and fashion. The first Barbie was slim, tall, and had little to no belly fat at all. Almost setting an almost impossible beauty standard. Greta Gerwig addresses the idea of body complexity and standards and presents in her movie an entirely different outlook regarding the same.
Greta Gerwig’s Layer Barbie, played by plus-sized icon, Sharon Rooney, breaks through the notion of feminine curvy body image. Growing up as a chubby little girl, I always loved Barbie dolls and the classic Barbie movies, but I could never see myself amongst them.
President Barbie, played by Issa Rae, in an interview talks about how she felt she did not have a Barbie body. On receiving the call that she was cast for the role, she was shocked to hear Greta’s notion of body diversity that was being implemented in the movie.
“Greta Gerwig’s Barbie world consists of all body types”
Issa Rae
If one takes a look at Disney’s Villain representation one will be able to realize how Disney often shapes a villain to be a fat person. It does not necessarily mean that all fat characters are villains, but most villains do have a better selling point if they are fat,(According to Disney creators). The same goes for villains with crooked noses.
Children learn, adults imply. The kind of media that is made for children will instill in them a mindset that will continue to influence and impact them in the future as teenagers or young adults. Often giving rise to body issues, eating disorders, etc.
While being obese is not a very healthy trait in a person, it is essential to understand that there are different body types. Where being extremely skinny is not healthy, being extremely fat or obese is not healthy either. So the point is that there should be enough representation of the different body types. Not just the two very extremes of the wide and large spectrum that is the human body.
Women of Colour
Barbie used to always be white. It made sense in the 1940s when the idea of Barbie itself came from a white woman. But as time progressed and humanity and humans evolved, it was about time to present Barbies of different skin colors and races. Thus was the very first black Barbie born in the year 1980 by Louvenia “Kitty” Black Perkins.
The very recent Little Mermaid movie stormed the internet and its audience as it centered around a black woman played by Halle Bailey. The Barbie movie has Barbie characters played by Black women like Issa Rae, whose character is a writer, and Alexandra Shipp whose character is a writer.
Lizzo, the very popular pop singer is set to perform her song “Pink” in one of the scenes. Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj have a rendition of the classic song “Barbie World” featuring the Original singer, Aqua.
Sexual Expression
The song “Barbie Girl” was a part of the controversy at the time of its coming out. It was often deemed to be problematic due to its implication of sexual innuendos. It promotes the objectification of women as sexual objects and provides men with the idea that they can do anything they want.
“You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.”
The song being released in 1997, was not very progressive being of that era. It was often part of the controversy that the song promotes promiscuity in a Barbie doll. This is a controversial topic and people have different opinions regarding the same. The rendition of Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice has lyrics that incorporate Barbie to be able to take charge of one’s own sexual tendencies and desires. Throughout the history of sexual needs and desires, women’s sexual desires are often thought to be irrelevant, or rather, non-existent! Barbie here promotes a positive sexual expression which is healthy and essential. While also remaining true to the original with lines as
“Rad, but he sp**k me when I get bad.”
Independence
Growing up, parents had a kitchen set for their little girls and a car set for their little boys. Girls grow up playing the make-believe house game, “ghar-ghar” with their baby dolls, Barbie dolls, toys, etc. It was normal for a girl to choose pink for the color of her walls, and a boy to choose blue. These gender stereotypes, in very subtle manners, ended up instigating the notions of gender roles in children from a very young age.
Children of a specific gender were supposed to perform a certain job, while those of the other gender, had a different job. The roles were set, and a girl was taught to believe that the only goal in her life is to marry good, raise babies, and be a perfect wife, and that the ONLY true happiness a woman can ever attain, is motherhood.
Barbie questions this notion. She does more than just question it, she denies it. Over the course of the history of Barbie Dolls, Barbie has had over 200 jobs over a large scale of occupations. She has learned to prioritize her career and her independence. Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s movie shows these various roles that she has acquired over time. Barbie finds a way to thrive being an unmarried rich woman. She shows little kids that while motherhood is one of the greatest gifts and miracles of life, it is not the only one and that we all have a choice to choose.
Barbie has received worldwide appreciation. Barbie has made over 1.28 billion worldwide to date. Barbie has received appreciation from many as they deemed the movie to be “sensational”, “impactful” and so on. Barbie was released at the theatres on July 21, 2024.
Have you seen the movie yet? What did you think about it? Let us know in the comments below!
